Saturday, February 8
Clearwater, Fla. / Eddie C. Moore Complex
11 a.m.
Southern Miss
1-2
1
vs
8
Pittsburgh
2-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Miss
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
6
2
Pittsburgh
4
0
0
2
2
0
X
8
9
0
Softball Drops Two Matches Saturday at NFCA Leadoff Classic
2/8/2025 5:54:00 PM | Softball
CLEARWATER, Fla.-Southern Miss Softball (1-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) faced tough competition Saturday at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, dropping two matches against Pittsburgh and Kentucky.
Game One: Pittsburgh 8-Southern Miss 1
Southern Miss started the day out against Pittsburgh, falling 8-1. The match marked the Panthers' first ever victory against the Golden Eagles, having previously lost all four meetings with Southern Miss.
The Golden Eagles fell in an early deficit after Pittsburgh scored four runs in the first inning, with three coming from a home run shot by Desirae Martinez. However, the team answered as Natalie Taylor hit a leadoff single in the top of the second, shortly followed by an RBI single from Claire Ginder.Â
Kayce Bennett, Faith Kivett and Hannah Christian each picked up singles in the following two innings, but Pittsburgh's Bekah Duck and the Panthers' defense prevented any runs, including escaping a loaded bases situation.
Freshman Gwen Sparks, who was named to the Softball America Freshman Watch List, relieved Duck to close out the game. Paris Ferguson recorded her first double of the season in the seventh inning, but the Panthers soon closed the door to take the game.
Sophomore BrookLynn White received the loss. Freshman Kayla Giardina relieved White, throwing for over three innings, allowing two earned runs and two walks with one strikeout.
Freshman Olivia Christian also made her collegiate debut, coming in for Giardina in the fifth. Christian gave up one hit and three walks, while fanning two batters.
Game Two: Kentucky 13-Southern Miss 3
The Golden Eagles fielded a competitive match against the undefeated Wildcats, but a late surge from Kentucky ended the match in an abbreviated five innings.
Kentucky fielded 16 hits, with eight coming in the fourth and fifth innings, leading to an eight unanswered runs.
Southern Miss again trailed in an early deficit from a four-run first frame, but battled back gradually. Carrie Green answered with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first, translating into points after Maddie Weeks sent her home with an RBI double through centerfield.
With Kentucky finding a single run in the second, Southern Miss narrowed the gap by one with two runs from Green's RBI fielder's choice and then a run scored by Green on a passed ball.
Leading by two, the Wildcats began to power ahead with a three-run home run shot by Cassie Reasner in the fourth and then piled on five runs in the fifth before closing the game out in the following frame.
Abigail Morgan received the loss, while Natalie Herrington threw the majority of the match with over four innings thrown. Christian also appeared again to close out the match for the Golden Eagles.Â
Up Next
Southern Miss concludes their time in Clearwater tomorrow morning, facing No. 20 Northwestern at 9 a.m. CT.
For the latest information on Southern Miss Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB) and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
Â
Game One: Pittsburgh 8-Southern Miss 1
Southern Miss started the day out against Pittsburgh, falling 8-1. The match marked the Panthers' first ever victory against the Golden Eagles, having previously lost all four meetings with Southern Miss.
The Golden Eagles fell in an early deficit after Pittsburgh scored four runs in the first inning, with three coming from a home run shot by Desirae Martinez. However, the team answered as Natalie Taylor hit a leadoff single in the top of the second, shortly followed by an RBI single from Claire Ginder.Â
Kayce Bennett, Faith Kivett and Hannah Christian each picked up singles in the following two innings, but Pittsburgh's Bekah Duck and the Panthers' defense prevented any runs, including escaping a loaded bases situation.
Freshman Gwen Sparks, who was named to the Softball America Freshman Watch List, relieved Duck to close out the game. Paris Ferguson recorded her first double of the season in the seventh inning, but the Panthers soon closed the door to take the game.
Sophomore BrookLynn White received the loss. Freshman Kayla Giardina relieved White, throwing for over three innings, allowing two earned runs and two walks with one strikeout.
Freshman Olivia Christian also made her collegiate debut, coming in for Giardina in the fifth. Christian gave up one hit and three walks, while fanning two batters.
Game Two: Kentucky 13-Southern Miss 3
The Golden Eagles fielded a competitive match against the undefeated Wildcats, but a late surge from Kentucky ended the match in an abbreviated five innings.
Kentucky fielded 16 hits, with eight coming in the fourth and fifth innings, leading to an eight unanswered runs.
Southern Miss again trailed in an early deficit from a four-run first frame, but battled back gradually. Carrie Green answered with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first, translating into points after Maddie Weeks sent her home with an RBI double through centerfield.
With Kentucky finding a single run in the second, Southern Miss narrowed the gap by one with two runs from Green's RBI fielder's choice and then a run scored by Green on a passed ball.
Leading by two, the Wildcats began to power ahead with a three-run home run shot by Cassie Reasner in the fourth and then piled on five runs in the fifth before closing the game out in the following frame.
Abigail Morgan received the loss, while Natalie Herrington threw the majority of the match with over four innings thrown. Christian also appeared again to close out the match for the Golden Eagles.Â
Up Next
Southern Miss concludes their time in Clearwater tomorrow morning, facing No. 20 Northwestern at 9 a.m. CT.
For the latest information on Southern Miss Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB) and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bekah Duck (1-0)
L: White, BrookLynn (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Ferguson, Paris 1
RBI: Ginder, Claire 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor, Natalie 1
Batting:
2B: Saleyna Daniel 1
HR: Desirae Martinez 1
RBI: Kaitlyn Brannstrom 1 ; Saleyna Daniel 1 ; Desirae Martinez 3 ; Shelby Frazier 1
SH: Ana Hernandez 1
SF: Saleyna Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tieley Vaughn 1 ; Kaitlyn Brannstrom 1 ; KK Esparza 1 ; Saleyna Daniel 2 ; Desirae Martinez 1 ; Ahmari Braden 1 ; Bekah Duck 1
SB: Saleyna Daniel 1 ; Ahmari Braden 1
CS: Camryn Murphy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP/INF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF/UT
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
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